Our state senators shut down our government by literally locking the doors of their chamber for more than a month — just because of a petty power play between Democrats and Republicans. If that wasn't pathetic enough, the move was led by one state senator who was eventually found guilty of theft and tax evasion.

So what happened to these do-nothing politicians?

We screamed. We cursed. We vowed to throw the bums out.

And then we re-elected virtually all of them.

Just like we re-elected our same state politicians who were double-dipping — drawing their salaries and retirement benefits from our tax dollars at the same time — after we screamed bloody murder.

Well, here we go again.

We were just held hostage by our federal politicians. They just about pushed us over that fiscal cliff and into a cesspool of taxes and budget cuts that would drown us — all because of their selfish power plays.

And then, when a deadline finally forced them to reach a last-minute partial deal, they backed out of a commitment for aid to the devastated victims of Superstorm Sandy — until a bipartisan outcry forced them to fork over part of the money.

Will we remember our representatives' selfish inaction on the fiscal cliff when they're up for re-election? Will we remember them if we don't get enough of that storm aid — or if the final bill is loaded with so much pork for other projects, we get shortchanged?

Will we remember that we now think so little of Congress that a root canal is actually more popular than our federal representatives, according to a survey released just this week?

Unfortunately, our so-called public servants keep giving us plenty of reminders of their incompetence.

So given their track record, does anyone want to bet they'll do the right thing on an issue that's literally a matter of life or death — gun violence?

Millions of us are clamoring for something to be done about the approximately 300 million guns Americans own — about one for every American man, woman and child.

Are all of those guns — and the availability of assault weapons — the reasons why four of every five gun deaths in the world occur in this country, according to the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery? Or that nearly nine of every 10 children in the world killed by guns are American children?

The murder of those 20 children and six adults in Connecticut has forced our politicians in Albany and Washington, and in communities like in Ellenville and New Paltz, to finally confront those scary facts of American life.

Can we keep the pressure on them until something meaningful is done? And if they don't do anything, will any of us remember them at the only time that really matters — Election Day?

There's only one way to make sure our politicians do the right thing, and follow through on their promises. And that's to do what we didn't do three years ago — hold them accountable with our votes.